Wednesday, December 28, 2011

With 80 percent of shoppers agreeing to the statement "I prefer online rather than go to crowded stores during Thanksgiving weekend,' it's no surprise, that the web is taking over Black Friday sales.

And, as predicted by Forrester* and comScore**, online holiday spending has increased 15 percent since the same time last year, reaching 32 Billion with two weeks still remaining in 2011. Shopping days include November 2nd through December 19th.

Monday, November 21, 2011

The Report points to shoppers hunting for better online deals, increasing recognition of key shopping dates like Cyber Monday, as well as retailers creating robust online sales to meet shopper expectations. "Tablet commerce," is also on the rise, with tens of millions of consumers contributing to the rise in sales.

Stand Out this Holiday SeasonTo help you strengthen your online presence and attract more qualified holiday shoppers this Black Friday & Cyber Monday GoDataFeed has assembled its top shopping channel management strategies for 2011.

Why? With the holidays around the corner,
Amazon Product Ads can help you get your share of quality holiday traffic.
Amazon's Q4 traffic for the last 2 years exceeded 40 million unique visitors
(see graph below):

Monday, October 3, 2011

As the holiday shopping season gets closer, three major players, Google Product Search, Bing Shopping and Shopping.com have just announced their newest programs...

Google Launches Trusted Stores

Google just launched their newest pilot Google Trusted Stores, a program designed to help shoppers 'Shop with Confidence' by highlighting merchants who offer 'a great shopping

experience.' This move is very much in line with their recent Google Product Search feed changes, aimed at obtaining more granular, shopper-friendly data. The 'Google Trusted Store' badge is only awarded to sites that demonstrate excellent customer service and on-time shipping performance. When a shopper hovers over the badge, they will see relevant shopping/customer service related metrics, as seen below:

How to become a Google Trusted Store:

To participate, you must voluntarily share shipping data and essentially, be extremely responsive if there are any issues. How? When completing a purchase on a Google Trusted Store, Google will offer the shopper free purchase protection (up to $1,000 lifetime purchase protection for eligible purchases). Then, if there's a problem and a shopper seeks Google's help, they will work with you to address the issue at hand. In turn, Google will collect customer service metrics when shoppers involve Google's with a problem.

Over the coming months, Google estimates, they'll be adding more stores to this pilot program. To apply to become a Google Trusted Store, fill out Google's form.

Bing Shopping Partners Up with Shopping.com

Bing Shopping just announced that they're teaming up with Shopping.com to enhance their existing merchant listing program.

How it works:

Starting November 1st, paid offers from Shopping.com will get higher visibility on Bing Shopping's search result and product pages. To get started, simply get listed on Shopping.com, if you aren't already.

No action necessary, unless you want more traffic from Shopping.com

If you're already on Shopping.com, then you may already have access to higher placements on Bing Shopping and no further action is needed. If you're already on Bing Shopping (and not on Shopping.com), then you don't need to do anything, just be aware that Shopping.com's paid listings merchants will get higher placements. If you're not on Bing Shopping, then you should know that they've paused on boarding of new merchants until further notice.

Want to try it out the Shopping.com/Bing Shopping Duo?

You can start out by submitting a subset of your products/best-sellers to Shopping.com which will get syndicated to Bing Shopping, and see how it affects your sales. To get started with Shopping.com, you can sign up by visiting GoDataFeed'sSupported Channels.

Monday, September 26, 2011

Google recently announced that starting October 14th, they will be redirecting shoppers from their Boutiques.com and Like.com websites to Google Product Search (GPS).

Why? As with all of their recent feed specification changes, this is part of their overall sweep to enhance the user experience, creating an "innovative apparel shopping experience", thus attracting more shoppers that convert. Among their enhanced features, like the ability to browse by price, color, gender and even silhouette, for instance, is the ability to view visually similar styles, (pretty cool!) as seen here below:

Update your Google Product Search Feed

If you're an apparel merchant who is submitting your feed to Like.com or Boutiques.com, be aware that your datafeed will not automatically transition to Google Product Search, so make sure you are submitting an updated Google Product Search feed that meets all their new requirements.

As noted on their posting:

"As we continue to integrate technology and lessons learned from Boutiques.com into Google Product Search, we will be redirecting shoppers from Boutiques.com to Google Product Search. The former Like.com team, alongside the Google Product Search team, will drive new ideas for apparel shopping through one unified product. "

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

In the past several months, Google Merchant Center has been enforcing more datafeed requirements in a serious effort to provide shoppers with a 'high quality shopping experience." This is an opportunity for retailers to strengthen their presence on Google Product Search and increase the flow of free traffic from this priceless channel.

To help you get that competitive edge, and more importantly, to avoid getting your Google Merchant account suspended, review your Google feed and make sure you are complying with Google Merchant Center's three latest requirement changes below.

If you're a GoDataFeed retailer, look at your validation reports which will produce warnings or errors for many of the below listed requirements.

3 Key Google Datafeed Changes:

Unique Identifier Requirement, as stated in our June posting; Google Enforcing New Requirements - Is Your Google Feed Ready? merchants will need to provide 2 out of 3 data points: accurate Brand/Manufacturer, MPNs or UPC codes (or ISBNs for books). Only apparel and one-of-a-kind product retailers will be exempt from this requirement.

Important Note to Apparel & Fashion Merchants: As of Sept. 22nd, you will need to provide variant information for size, color, gender and age group; learn more on Google's Tips for Submitting Apparel Products

Shipping and Tax Information Requirements- Be sure to include tax and shipping information by Sept. 1st, 2011. This pricing data can be set through either your Google Merchant Center and/or item-level through your datafeed (item-level overrides the Merchant Center data). Google has already extended their deadline from June 6th until September 1st, so make sure your shipping and tax data is good to go.

Important Note: Merchants not including accurate tax and shipping information may cause Google to disapprove their feeds. They are also permitting estimates for tax/shipping information. This rule applies to Google US, UK, France and Germany feeds.

Google Merchant Center Best Practices

As, noted in Google's article, Providing High Quality Data, to maximize your Google Product Search results and improve the shopper experience, you should follow Google's tips on improving data quality so that the product data, such as pricing, stock status and variant data, listed on Google Product Search is identical to the data on your site.

Check Data Quality: you should be checking the 'Data Quality' tab in your Google Merchant Center Account to ensure your feeds are up to par.

Keep Data Fresh: Make sure to submit your Google feed on a daily basis (through GoDataFeed, you can do this in Step 5 'Schedule Submissions')

Variant Data: If you have product variants, defined by Google as versions of the same product which vary by color, material, patterns or sizes, Google recommends you submit one item per variant. If you're an apparel merchant, this is a requirement. Learn more about Product Variants.

Thursday, August 4, 2011

Even though the economy is still impacting spending, the typical online, back-to-school shopper will spend an average of 40% more than the in-store shopper, according to the National Retail Federation's 'Back-to-School Trends 2011 Survey conducted with BIGResearch.

That's an average of $850 versus the in-store $603 spend, and a total projected spend of$68.8 billion, for grades K-12 and college combined.

Back-to-School Trends

40% more spent onlineis a stark reminder that online retailers need to optimize and maximize all available shopping channels

Today's back-to-school shopperis seeking more value, quality and service; not just the lowest price

69% of shoppers are comparison shopping for bargains online, according to a Pricegrabber survey; good news for retailers looking to increase exposure

90% of shoppers consider prices and discountsa top priority in choosing a retailer for school supplies in an Accenture survey

Promote Often 50% of shoppers will be shopping more often to take advantage of back-to-school sales and about one-third will be shopping one to two weeks before school starts

Beyond the BasicsWhile Back-to-School shopping includes school supplies, apparel, shoes and electronics, college students and their parents will be shopping for dorm room or apartment related furniture and accessories, food, personal care products and gift cards (see Total Back-to-College Spending 2011 below)

Ready to increase traffic and sales?

View GoDataFeed's Demoor sign up for a30-day trial and we'll help get you started with 2 free shopping feed setups.

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Just when you thought your Google feed was perfect, Google has announced even MORE changes this month that will be enforced Sept. 22, 2011. These apply to Google Product Search feeds sent to the US, UK, Australia and Germany.

Rest assured that GoDataFeed is on top of all of these changes and has already started making changes to our 'Google Product Search' template, including the 'Google Product Category', 'Product Type', and 'Availability' fields.

Google's Newest Requirements:

· 'Availability' attribute will now be required, so make sure you have one of these four values: in stock, out of stock, available for order or preorder

· 'Google Product Category' attribute will be required - that is Google's category of the item

· 'Product Type' is now a new recommended field intended for your Merchant Category. We recommend that you map this to your Merchant Category right away in your Google feed, to avoid seeing warnings in your Google Merchant Center

· Images will now be required [image_link]. Please use full size images (300x300 pixels or larger), not thumbnails or logos. Soon, you will also be able to add up to 10 Additional Image Links through [additional_image_link]

· Apparel: In order to create a better experience for product variants such as dresses or shoes that are available in multiple colors or sizes, Google will be requiring US Merchants to include [size], [color], [gender] and [age group]. If you're an Apparel Retailer, please review Google's Tips for Submitting Apparel Products

Warnings vs. Errors

To prepare Merchants for upcoming changes, Google started placing 'Warnings' on these items. Please note that 'Warnings' will change these to 'Errors' as of 9/22/2011. Keep in mind that product listings with 'Warnings' will generally still get listed, but 'Errors' will not.

We highly suggest that you check your product data and/or download the current feed file to be sure you are in compliance with these changes.

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

3dCart's version 4 features combined with GoDataFeed's powerful automated feed submissions will help new and existing merchants increase traffic and conversions

Ecommerce software provider, 3dCart, recently announced the launch of version 4. As the biggest rollout to date, 3dCart 4 capitalizes on the group buying trend by putting control of group deals in the hands of online businesses. The new version features tight integration with GoDatafeed.

3DCart Promotion for GoDataFeed MerchantsAs part of the release, 3DCart is inviting GoDatafeed merchants to sign up for 3dcart and get two extra months of service free.

The biggest new features of 3dCart 4 include:

• Daily Deals – By featuring a “daily deal” on their sites, online stores gain the ability to drive more conversions by adding urgency, pique customer interest with exclusivity, allow partner sites to promote deals, generate more content for social media channels and more easily clear stock of outdated products.

• Group Deals – The new “Group Deals” tool gives online stores the ability to feature their own group deals without paying out to a middleman. Businesses have the ability to run their own group promotions whenever they want and control how those deals are promoted.

• Make An Offer – This feature allows customers to place a bid on items. If the bid falls within a pre-designated percentage margin, the sale is closed. If not, the administrator has the ability to accept or decline the sale. The feature is meant to appeal to comparison, bargain and haggling shoppers.

• Autoresponders – Set and forget autoresponders—preprogrammed emails that go out based on customer activity and designations—to build brand loyalty.

3dCart 4 also includes new features like:“Quick View” to preview products and buy directly from the category page“Quick Cart” to preview products in the customer’s shopping cart without leaving the page“Facebook Send Button” to allow customers to quickly and easily share products over Facebook“Facebook Open Graph Meta Tags” that allows customers to “Like” your store directly from your website“Recently Viewed Items” for customers to return to product pages they previously visitedIntegration with Australia Post; warehouse location updates; and updated order sorting

Monday, June 27, 2011

As part of GoDataFeed's ongoing commitment to keep retailer feeds current with the latest shopping channel marketing initiatives, it now supports Bing Shopping Deals, an optional program designed to increase sales with limited-time, discounted offers.

Bing Shopping will be launching its 'Deals' program in a few weeks and GoDataFeed merchants who wish to participate, are able to so by simply adding the deal specifications through their existing Bing Shopping feed.

What is a Deal?A Deal is defined, by Bing Shopping, as an online offer that contains a "temporary reduction in price."

What Data is Needed for a Deal?For merchants who want to take part in the optional Bing Shopping Deal offerings, required fields include Price with Discount and Date the Deal is Added. Optional fields include Deal Expiration, Deal Description, Promotional Code, Location and more.

Already Submitting to Bing Shopping?All required and optional fields are included in GoDataFeed's Bing Shopping feed template, so merchants already submitting their feed to Bing Shopping, who wish to add 'deals,' component to their feed, simply need to add the deal data to their current source file and map that data to their existing Bing Shopping feed.Important note: Both the source file and Bing Shopping file names should remain unchanged to avoid feed acceptance issues.

Getting the Best Results

Deal attributes will only be displayed to help shoppers make better buying decisions. Merchants are highly discouraged from adding deal attributes to regularly priced offers, with no added relevance or reduction in price. Bing views this practice as 'abuse' that can diminish your brand and reputation, and may result in Bing taking, 'corrective measures,' including discarding offers that are not actual deals.

Not on Bing Yet?

While Bing Shopping has temporarily paused onboarding of new merchants, check back with them periodically, as they will be accepting new merchants. Learn more on Bing Shopping.

Short on Time?

We can create the new Bing Shopping feed for you!

Simply open a support ticket, approve the one-time $99 feed setup charge, and we will create and optimize your Bing Shopping Feed.

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

How would you like to have an assistant whose only job is to monitor your shopping channel analytics? Want to receive an email each time a campaign needs optimizing or fails to meet your marketing goals?

GoDataFeed's Performance Alerts &Cost Reporting are tools designed exclusively to help you make more effective decisions and increase your campaign's profitability.

How it Works? First, you decide what to look for. Then, simply setup an alert. GoDataFeed will automatically deliver you that intelligence so you can take action accordingly (sample Performance Alert below for a 10% decrease in clicks in one week)

Why Performance Alerts? Reasons for an alert could vary from increased click costs, a sudden drop in clicks or conversions; variations that could derive from a number of reasons, including landing page issues, poorly categorized items, non-competitive pricing or a deactivated/unfunded account. You will easily be able to identify strengths and weaknesses before they become costly and unprofitable.

Metrics That Matter Once you receive an alert, you can take action to improve your campaign performance by either excluding products or modifying your campaigns (i.e. product title, categorization, pricing or shipping costs.) Plus, you can monitor all your campaigns performance and exclude or include products **directly** from your GoDataFeed account (Easily remove underperforming products in one place, just 'Exclude' products as in screenshot below)

Cost Reporting is a module that captures real ad spend on select paid channels. Real feedback lets you gain even deeper insight into your campaigns by reflecting valuable metrics like Cost-of-Sale-Percentage (COS%), Return-On-Ad-Spend (ROAS), Cost-Per-Acquisition (CPA) and Average Cost-per-Click (Avg. CPC). Cost reporting helps you make more informed campaign decisions. Plus, you can receive the information through Performance Alerts, giving you the intelligence you need, when you need it. GoDataFeed captures cost reporting for the most popular pay-per-click channels including NexTag, Shopping.com, Pronto, Become, PriceGrabber and Shopzilla (coming soon)-- and will be adding more channels.

How it Works?

Cost Reporting gives you a more complete picture of what's happening with your pay-per-click campaigns, making it easier to decide which products to exclude before they become unprofitable as well as which campaigns or bidding need adjusting. Simply activate Cost Reporting and receive these critical metrics through Performance Alerts (sample Cost Reporting metrics, like COS% 'Cost of Sale Percentage' )

Merchants interested in listing on APA's Grocery and Gourmet category must obtain approval for this restricted category before they can list their products. To request approval, first sign up to Amazon Product Ads, then request approval to advertise in the Grocery & Gourmet category.

Musical Instruments and Pet Supplies are open to all sellers.

Listen to GoDataFeed & Amazon Product Ads' most recent Webinar 'Get in Front of Millions of Amazon Shoppers" to help you succeed

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

As of June 20th Google Product Search Merchants will have to provide unique identifiers for products in all categories except for apparel and one-of-a-kind items.

To determine if your data is ready, login to your Google Merchant account and check your 'Data Quality' to see if you currently have Unique Product Identifier warnings, and make adjustments as needed.

Warnings could turn into errors on June 20th and those products will not be displayed.

Apparel & Accessories - If your items fall into the Apparel & Accessories category, you will be exempt, although it is still encouraged to provide a Brand/Manufacturer and the Google Product Type to ensure proper placement. Apparel & Accessories includes these categories:

Clothing

Clothing Accessories

Costumes

Jewelry

Jewelry Accessories

Shoe Accessories

Shoes

Watch Accessories

Watches

Luggage & Bags ' Handbags

Exemptions - If your products are custom made or one-of-a-kind items, you will need to apply for an exemption from Google:

The best way to determine if you are in compliance with Google's new requirements is to use GoDataFeed's new Google feed template as the validation tools and field attributes are built-in to ensure compliance.

You will need two of the three items for your products:

1. ACCURATE Brand information (you can use Manufacturer)

2. ACCURATE Manufacturer Product Numbers (MPN) as assigned by the Manufacturer - and that they are assigned to the CORRECT products.

3. or ACCURATE UPC Codes as assigned by the Manufacturer - 12 to 14 digit codes (or ISBNs for books)

Google uses the above information to match your products against a standard database of products and will show their image, their title and descriptions. If the information you provide is inaccurate then it will show up incorrect in Google or may not get submitted at all.

Please note that in the weeks after June 20th, Google will begin disapproving feeds of merchants who have a significant percentage of items that do not include the correct unique identifiers.

Shipping and Tax Information Requirements- Google is also extending the previous June 6th deadline until September 1, to allow Merchants more time to modify their data. They are also permitting estimates for tax/shipping information. This rule applies to Google US, UK, France and Germany feeds.